Central High Crisis (Elizabeth Huckaby-1)

Elizabeth Paisley Huckaby (1905-1999) served as vice principal of girls at Little Rock Central High School during the Little Rock crisis of 1957. As a dedicated teacher, Huckaby spent the year of the crisis working in support of desegregation, protecting the Little Rock Nine, maintaining order at Central High, and promoting the education of students.

Huckaby was born in 1905 in Hamburg, Arkansas, to Henry Lewis Paisley and Elizabeth Merrell Paisley. After attending grammar school in Texas, Huckaby enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she earned a degree in education in 1926 and a master’s degree in 1930. She was hired to teach at Little Rock Senior High School in 1930. Three years later, she married Glen T. Huckaby, also a Little Rock teacher. In 1946, she was promoted to assistant principal, later called dean of girls. (https://theownerbuildernetwork.co/)

During the Central High Crisis, Huckaby’s primary responsibility was to ensure the safety of the nine African-American students who were integrating Central High School. Later, she published a memoir titled, Crisis at Central High, which detailed the events of that year, challenges faced by the students, and her attempts to continue the education of students at Central High School.

Staff identification card listing Huckaby and the date, September 16, 1958. — Elizabeth Huckaby’s staff identification card for what became the Lost Year, when Governor Orval Faubus closed Little Rock’s public high schools, Elizabeth Huckaby Papers (UALR.MS.0118).

Huckaby sits with crew members of the television movie, Crisis at Central High, on a front lawn, 1980 — Huckaby, June 27, 1980, Elizabeth Huckaby Papers (UALR.MS.0118).

Developed by

The Elizabeth Huckaby Character Collection was developed by UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture intern Nicole Ursin. Ursin is a UA Little Rock Donaghey Scholar, double majoring in History and Anthropology with a minor in Nonprofit Leadership Studies. She plans to graduate in May 2019. Her passion is the preservation of history and she pursues this passion by working for different museums and archives in Little Rock. After graduation, she plans to obtain a Master’s degree in museum studies or public history.